Making sense of planning expertise: housing policy and the role of experts in the Programa Especial de Realojamento (PER)

Caterina Di Giovanni

Caterina Di Giovanni is an architect (University of Palermo, Faculty of Architecture) and a PhD Student in Urban Studies at the ISCTE-IUL/FCSH-UNL. She holds a post-grad in Urban Planning in Public Administration (Sapienza University of Rome) with a thesis focused on public-private instruments for the river landscapes regeneration and the River Contract for Rome. Funded by an scholarship from Region Lazio, she developed a research within exPERts (October 2016 – March 2017) about the history of Habita, Portuguese collective for the right to housing and the right to the city. In Rome, she has been carrying out professional experiences in non-profit organizations in the fields of cultural promotion and participatory practises, as well as a traineeship in a social housing institution. Her PhD research (funded by an FCT scholarship) examines integrated interventions in social housing from the perspective of the promotion of social and urban space improvement and interaction of local actors.